At 252 South Dargan Street, in the heart of downtown Florence, South Carolina, St. John's Church has gathered Anglicans for worship since 1865. The stone sanctuary, designed by architect Silas McBee and built with stone from quarries in Wadesboro, North Carolina, has been the spiritual home of the parish since 1889. Across more than a century and a half, the congregation has grown from a refugee mission organized in a schoolteacher's classroom into a multi-generational downtown parish committed to the motto To Know Christ and to Make Him Known.
Three Sunday Eucharists
Sunday is the heart of the week at St. John's. Three traditional Eucharists are offered, each in its own setting. The 8:30 a.m. service in the sanctuary is contemplative and quiet, a peaceful start to the day. At 9:30 a.m., the congregation moves outside under the Fellowship Pavilion (in January and February the gathering moves indoors to the Parish Hall). The 11:00 a.m. service returns to the historic sanctuary and is livestreamed on YouTube for those who cannot be present. All three services follow the 2019 Book of Common Prayer.
Wednesday at Noon
A midday Eucharist is held in the Chapel at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesdays. It is a brief, prayerful service for those whose work schedules make Sunday worship difficult and a spiritual anchor in the middle of the week.
What to Expect on Your First Visit
The parish office is at 252 South Dargan Street and is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Visitors may call 843-662-5585 or email bmccallister@stjohnsflorence.org with questions, or send a message through the Start Here page. On Sundays, anyone is welcome at any of the three services. Nursery care is provided for children under the age of three at all three services, and activity bags and sidewalk chalk are available at the welcome table for children who stay in the pew.
Children's Church and the Clergy Cross
Children are welcomed in every part of the church's life. During the 9:30 and 11:00 services, children ages five through eight are invited to follow the Clergy Cross out of the sanctuary for Children's Church, where they hear a Bible story, take part in abbreviated worship, and return to their families for Communion. Parents are welcome to come along. Vacation Bible School is held each summer, with sessions running from 8:30 a.m. to noon during the second week of June. A photo permission form is required for any child's image to appear on the ministry pages.
Youth on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
The Youth Ministry is led by Cole O'Keefe. High schoolers in grades 9 through 12 meet on Tuesdays from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.; middle schoolers in grades 6 through 8 meet on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Drinks and snacks are provided, though dinner is not. The youth ministry's vision echoes the parish motto: To Know Christ and to Make Him Known. Its mission is more pointed - Daily, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14a) - and its goal is to make Jesus a more meaningful part of each student's daily life.
St. John's students regularly take part in diocesan retreats including RE:GENERATE and Jesus Weekend. Recent local mission projects have included Christmas donations to the area Men's Mission, the Souper Bowl of Caring, the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, ringing bells for the Salvation Army, and yard work and basic home repair for senior citizens and others in need. Adult volunteers are essential to the ministry; inquiries go through Charlotte Smith at the parish office.
Adults Around the Bible
Four Bible studies meet throughout the week, all in the Poynor Room. A women's study with the Rev. Anne Darby Hunter gathers on Mondays at 10:00 a.m. The Rev. Luke Lucas leads a men's group on Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. A separate men's Bible Study meets Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m. Roland's Bible Study meets Sunday mornings at 9:45 a.m. A broader Men's Ministry hosts prayer breakfasts, fellowship retreats, and outreach events, and the Women's Ministry supports the parish mission through care, fellowship, and outreach to the diocese, community, and church. Annual gatherings include the parish Oyster Roast.
Music at St. John's
Music is led by Jim Hepler, Music Director. Worship at all three Sunday services features hymns drawn from the Anglican tradition, accompanied by organ and choral forces. The historic stone sanctuary, with its three-bell peal dedicated in thanksgiving for the Lucas Family, gives the parish's musical life a distinctive acoustic setting.
What We Believe
St. John's is a parish in the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, a member diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. Worship follows the 2019 Book of Common Prayer. The parish ascribes to a carefully stated body of belief that begins with the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and continues through the full authority of Holy Scriptures as divine revelation containing all things necessary to salvation; the one Lord Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, whose perfect obedience, true and actual suffering, saving death on the cross, bodily resurrection, and ascension are the only means given for our salvation; faith in Jesus Christ alone as the means of salvation; and the consummate return of Christ in glory to judge the living and the dead.
St. John's also receives the historic Nicene and Apostles' Creeds as accurate representations of the Christian faith, together with the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church as a coherent expression of Anglican doctrine. The local church is described in the parish's statement of belief as a community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord, organized under qualified leadership, gathering regularly for preaching and worship, observing the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, unified by the Spirit, disciplined for holiness, and scattered to fulfill the great commandment and great commission as missionaries to the world.
A Historic Downtown Sanctuary
The parish traces its origin to 1865, when refugees from Civil War action along the coast arrived in Florence, then a small railroad junction in Darlington County. Frances Church, an English teacher, offered her classroom as a meeting place for Episcopal services. Among those displaced was the Rev. W. B. W. Howe, rector of St. Philip's Church in Charleston - later Bishop of South Carolina - who celebrated the first service in the makeshift chapel. In 1867, a young deacon, the Rev. Walter C. Guerry, was assigned to organize the mission. He preached his first and only sermon in Florence on July 28 of that year, taking his text from the Gospel of John; he died of illness on August 15. The parish was named St. John the Evangelist as a memorial to its first priest.
The first church building, at the corner of Darlington and Coit Streets, was consecrated in 1871. It was damaged by an 1886 earthquake and replaced by the present stone sanctuary, designed by architect Silas McBee and built with stone from Anson Quarries in Wadesboro, North Carolina. The building was occupied in December 1889, when the Rev. W. A. Guerry, a brother of the parish's first priest, was ordained to the priesthood there. W. A. Guerry later became Bishop of South Carolina in 1908. The present church building was completed in 1890 and consecrated on February 15, 1891, by Bishop Howe - the same bishop who had celebrated the first service in Florence a quarter-century earlier.
Through the twentieth century, the parish grew steadily. By 1958, the number of communicants had risen to six hundred, and the congregation established All Saints' Church on Cherokee Road in 1957. Major additions followed: a parish house in 1922, a new youth building in 1972, and - in the period from 1990 onward - the Schofield Library, the fellowship hall, a garden pavilion, a utility building, a breezeway, additional parking, the three-bell peal, and a chapel converted from the former library and dedicated in November 2004. The 150th anniversary of the parish was celebrated on October 30, 2016, and the parish continues to mark its place as a downtown congregation committed to serving Florence in ways that reflect God's love and grace.
Lenten Teaching and the Foundations Series
Each year during Lent, St. John's hosts a midday teaching series that draws speakers from across the diocese and beyond. Past lecturers have included the Rev. Tyler Prescott (church planter at Good Samaritan, Summerville), Anna Bruner (Associate Chaplain at St. Alban's Chapel, The Citadel), the Rev. Dr. Rob Sturdy, the Rev. Brian McGreevy, and Drew Miller. Recent series have worked through C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce and a five-part exploration of the Decalogue called Foundations Fall 2025. Wednesday Nights during Lent include a parish meal and additional formation.
Online Worship and Sermon Recordings
The 11:00 a.m. Sunday service is livestreamed on YouTube at the St. John's Church Florence channel, and recordings of recent Sunday sermons and the Lenten Teaching series are available online as audio files on the parish's Audio Recordings page.
Community Partners and Outreach
St. John's mission is summarized in five words: To Know Christ and to Make Him Known. The parish supports the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, the Florence community, and its own church family through prayer, fellowship, and giving. Beyond the work of the youth ministry, St. John's partners with local agencies, including the area Men's Mission and the Salvation Army. Parishioners can also support the church's long-term ministry through a permanent endowment fund administered by the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation or by giving online.
Clergy and Staff
The parish is led by The Very Rev. Corey Prescott, Rector, who began his tenure at St. John's in May 2022. The Rev. Luke Lucas serves as Priest Associate. Charlotte Smith is the Children & Families Minister, and Cole O'Keefe is the Youth Minister. Music is directed by Jim Hepler. Beth McCallister serves as Parish Administrator, Ginnie Raines directs Communications, and Quinton Buyck is Facilities Manager.